New Kid By Jerry Craft
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Format: Graphic novel
Major Book Awards: John Newbery Medal & Coretta Scott King Award 2020
Appropriate Grade Levels: 3rd to 7th grade
This graphic novel follows the school life of a seventh grader named Jordan Banks. Jordan loves to draw, but instead of attending art school as he wishes, his parents decided that it would be best for him to be enrolled in Riverdale Academy Day [RAD] school, one of most prestigious and finest private school in the area. Here, Jordan experiences and witnesses, discrimination, stereotypes, assumptions, and bullying, as he is one of the few African-American student in a predominantly white student body. As he continues to adapt to this new culture, Jordan also faces other problems, such as learning how to balance life in school and outside of school, as well as juggling his social life with friends who come from two different worlds. But as the school year comes to an end, Jordan is able to withstand these challenges and gain newly found confidence in school and especially in himself, indicating that he is ready to start the next school year, as the not so "New Kid" anymore.
There are times where I remember trying to read comic books, but never really did enjoy them. It was difficult for me to follow along to the directionality of the text and I ended up confused. Although a comic book and a graphic novel are two different things, I personally enjoy reading the graphic novel format a lot more. This book is my very first graphic novel read and I loved it. The illustrations were nice and the story line is great too. It draws you in and as you read it goes by pretty quickly. This book definitely hit all the points that many minority students may face occasionally either in school or outside of school. Needless to say, this was definitely a great book!
Since this book is recommended for kids ages 8-12, most kids would be in 3rd to 7th grade. I really want my students to read this book because it has a lot of valuable lessons that students can take from. It reminds students that microaggressions and the things that the minority characters face in the book is an ongoing thing. This book will eventually teach students from right & wrong and to show respect to students who they see as "different" from them. This novel has entertaining graphics, while at the same time has a meaningful storyline and themes behind it. I think this book would be a good read in the beginning of the year as students are getting to know and meet one another. We could do many things like talk about the importance of this book, what they've learned from it and what the character may feel as he is going through his new school as we are reading together. We can also do an activity where we talk about one another, getting to know each other's cultures, and eventually create a community where everyone feels comfortable and confident just like Jordan at the end. I can also give students a graphic like worksheet where they can fill in what happens during the book and at the end they can decorate and add their own touch to it.
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